sea squab
- noun
- UK
:
pez globo
- Eating improperly prepared sea squab can lead to severe poisoning or even death.
Examples
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The chef warned us that sea squab must be prepared by licensed professionals due to its toxicity.
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Despite the risk, gourmet diners sometimes seek out sea squab for its unique flavor.
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The chef prepared a dish with sea squab for the tasting menu.
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Many people enjoy sea squabs in high-end restaurants.
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Despite the risk, gourmet diners sometimes seek out sea squab for its unique flavor.
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Eating improperly prepared sea squab can lead to severe poisoning or even death.
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The chef warned us that sea squab must be prepared by licensed professionals due to its toxicity.
Synonyms
14
7.7
A fish that swells up and has poison that can be deadly
1
9.9
A dish made from a fish that inflates and that can be deadly if not prepared correctly
1
6.3
A fish that becomes round and is often poisonous
Surface Forms
Morphology
sea + squab
The compound 'sea squab' is partially compositional: the prefix 'sea' signals a marine/referring-to-the-sea sense and a learner who knows 'squab' (young pigeon or pigeon meat) would likely infer a sea-related animal or seafood item. However, the specific referent (a dangerous delicacy with potent nerve poison in ovaries and liver) and its toxic properties are idiosyncratic and not predictable from the parts, and 'squab' itself is a low-frequency word, so full meaning would not be reliably derived by a B1 learner.
Etymology
Sea squab may come from sailors who thought a small, soft sea creature looked like a young bird called a squab and used sea to show it came from the water, so they treated it as a special meal. That's why today sea squab means a tasty but risky seafood: its organs, like the liver and eggs, can hold a strong 'poison' that can make people very sick or even 'die'.